Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has cleared eight bills and reserved seven bills for presidential assent, announced Raj Bhavan on Tuesday.
According to PTI, one of the bills reserved by the governor is the controversial University Amendment Bill.
Earlier, the Supreme Court served a notice to both the Centre and the Kerala Governor in response to the state's plea, which alleged that Raj Bhavan had not approved eight bills.
On November 24, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra heard the plea of the Kerala government accusing the governor of not granting assent to several bills cleared by the state assembly.
The other bills that the governor reserved include the Lok Ayukta Bill, University Bill 2022 (related to divesting the Governor of Chancellorship), the bill regarding the expansion of the University Search Committee, and the Cooperative (Milma) Bill, according to the communication from Raj Bhavan.
Last week, the Supreme Court had asked the Kerala Governor's additional chief secretary to refer to its recent verdict in Punjab's case, where it held that governors cannot "thwart the normal course of lawmaking".
When the Kerala government took the matter to the Supreme Court, highlighting the concern of the Governor not signing specific bills and causing indefinite delays, Khan denied the claims and told the media, "Show me one instance where I have crossed the line. And how many times my own government has crossed the line, there is a long list. So who is creating the crisis?”
Arif Mohammed Khan also alleged that the Kerala government did not pay the pensions and salaries for a long period of time. Read more
